Since ancient times, the application of henna has been an important part of many religious customs and traditions. These traditions are widely regarded amongst the Middle Eastern, Indian and North African communities. More recently countries like US and Europe are adopting the culture of applying body tattoos as part of their latest fashion trends.
Body tattoos can be either a permanent or a temporary tattoo. Permanent tattoos are made by piercing the skin with a coloring substance such that coloring substance penetrates underneath the epidermis. If at a later stage a person desires to change the tattoo or to remove it permanently, the remedy is a Q-switched laser surgery or other skin abrasive techniques which are not only painful but also expensive. It is thus preferable to apply a semi-permanent tattoo which will fade off eventually and can be easily replaced by a new tattoo as desired.
Traditionally semi-permanent coloring substances like henna and carmine are manually applied on the body surface by a professional. In this process, the professional puts the coloring substance in a cone shaped plastic container wherein the broad end of the cone shaped plastic container is sealed and a small opening is made on its tapering side. The professional then applies the coloring substance onto the skin of the user by pressing the sealed end of the cone shaped plastic container using his fingers. On pressing the sealed end, a string of coloring matter is released from the small opening which is then laid carefully onto the skin of the user for creating different design patterns. It is imperative that the string of coloring substance be carefully laid on the skin as the moment the coloring string touches the skin surface, it imparts color to the skin surface. Thus any mistake made during the color application phase will result in the formation of a disrupted pattern. Also, there is a possibility that while applying the coloring substance the professional may accidently move his hand or apply more pressure on the cone shaped plastic container, which can further result in disrupted pattern or color patches on the skin surface. Hence it is necessary to apply the coloring substance correctly in the first instance. When using a plastic cone for applying the coloring substance, there is also a possibility that the thickness of the color string may not be uniform, the design orientation may not be accurate, the professional applying henna might get tired drawing elaborate patterns which in turn leads to the unpredictability of replication of the desired design.
If the design pattern is intricate and artistic in nature, then the time required for applying the coloring substance by the professional will be very high. In this modern age, time is of the essence, so it is a necessity to device a system and method which can enable the application of the coloring substance on the skin surface in a fast, reliable, less time-consuming and economic manner.
Various types of devices are known in prior art to enable the application of a coloring substance directly onto the skin surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,166 describes a method of applying a coloring substance onto a skin surface by means of electrostatic spraying. US Patent Application 2002/0155069 refers to the application of the coloring substance on a localized skin surface in a predetermined design. However, various such devices suffer from one or more limitations as will be explained below.
It is imperative to hold the skin surface steady till the time the color application process is completed. The time consumed during the color application process may vary depending on the selected design. For more elaborate design, time required to replicate on the body surface is high. For an individual, it is difficult to hold the hand steady for extended periods of time. In both of the above mentioned prior art documents, there are no provisions for detecting any movements of the skin surface nor to halt the color application process on detecting movement of the skin surface till the time the individual is ready to resume the color application process.
It is thus an object of the present invention to address the problems faced by people wishing to apply a coloring substance on their skin surface by providing a system that can replicate any desired pattern on the skin surface of the user with enhanced replication accuracy and make the entire experience of applying the coloring substance more enjoyable by consuming less time and being economic in nature.